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Huge range of encyclopaedias, dictionaries, journals, databases (eg AustLit). They are free to access (but you have to join the library - also free - to do so.)

My favorite dictionary. You have to pay to use it.

Good addition. This is often cited as the dictionary standard for Australian authors. You can access it free if you join the State library and many of your local public libraries too.

Rich repository of journal articles and published papers on almost anything. If you are a member of a university library or State Library and put that in your Scholar profile, it will tell you when you have direct access to an article in a subscription-based database.

It's is always worth investigating the authors of a paper before you use it from Scholar, I reckon. Universities overseas, particularly in the US, have different funding arrangements and sometimes the papers here (especially health-related ones) are less than independent.

Fair call. True also of many materials online - factual or opinion-based ... or in the hard to tell the difference category. One good measure of credibility (or arguments against the findings) is to look at how many other people have cited the material and what they've done with it, which you can do via Scholar.

"Discover and share books you love on Goodreads, the world's largest site for readers and book recommendations" (and obsessively check your reviews and star ratings). Author dashboards, book discussion groups and lists, your library and bookshelves. Where readers are.

I didn't know I had an account until you mentioned it. As it turns out, I told Goodreads a year ago that I'd begun reading Noah Devine's Dharma Punx. I am, to this day, still trying to read Dharma Punx! It is keeping me honest...

Yes, I look like I've been reading the same books for a year, too.